


A New Direction

by justealafindumonde



Category: The Haunting of Hill House (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-18
Updated: 2018-11-18
Packaged: 2019-08-25 17:11:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16664869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justealafindumonde/pseuds/justealafindumonde
Summary: A continuation from the end of the show, mostly from Luke's point of view. It will focus on him moving on, finding some new friends, as well as his siblings. I'm bad at summaries but it's gonna be a lil gay





	A New Direction

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first chapter of a story I want to tell principally involving Luke, but it was be about the other siblings as well. I'm excited about it and I have a lot of ideas about where it's gonna go. There'll probably be a second season tbh but this is just my take on where I feel like I'd bring the characters if I were in charge. Lemme know if it sucks and also what you think :)
> 
> Hope you like it!

Luke Crain woke up to a dimly lit hospital room. He had been moved out of ICU ever since he’d been stabilized, and he was ready to get out. He wasn’t sure what time of day it was, as his hospital room had no windows.

Some time passed, and he started to get up. It was then that Shirley soundlessly entered the room. Seeing he was trying to unplug himself from the apparatus, she swifty said, “I hope you’re not doing what I think you’re doing.”

He looked back at her, frozen.

“Your blood was poison just a few days ago. If your doctor wants you here still you’re going to continue to be treated.” 

Luke awkwardly smiled. “Understood.”

Shirley sat down, and a moment of silence passed.

“Luke, I just… I’m sorry I just need to know. Why did you do that? Why did you go to the house? I stopped asking myself why so long ago but I just don’t understand.” She shook her head.

Luke considered for a moment. “That house has been following me my whole life. It has taken so much away from me. It even took Nell away from me.” He stopped, always a bit stung when he remembered. “In your house, something was happening. Shit was happening that none of us did. I know you know what I’m talking about.” He cleared his throat. “On the… on the day of Nell’s funeral, I saw mom by her grave. She told me to come home. I don’t expect you to believe me, but it happened.”

Shirley nodded, listening, but gave no indication of how she felt about what it was that he was talking about.

“And at first I was scared. Fuck, I…. I’ve been scared my whole life Shirley. But then I was just pissed. I was so pissed. I thought about it for a while… I thought about going there and just burning the place down. And then the longer I thought about it, the more  
I realized that it’s what needed to happen. That house won’t stop until it gets us, Shirl.”

“Luke…”

“I don’t care if you believe me.” Luke said, a little bit aggressively. “I know it’s true.”

“Hey, we’ve both been through the same thing.”

“I’m sorry Shirl, but we haven’t.” He sniffled, a little sick.

“Luke…. I believe you.” She said, mulling over her words. “After last night, I believe you.”

“Okay,” Luke said. “Okay.” He wasn’t accustomed to being believed, ever. Except for Nellie; she always believed him. Nellie.

“So…” she said, choosing her words carefully. “Did you plan on just burning the house down? I mean…”

“I don’t know, Shirley,” Luke said, looking down. “I don’t know if I planned on leaving there alive or not.” After a moment: “I’m honestly not sure if I cared.”

“Luke…” Shirley said. “I can’t lose you too, Luke. I thought I lost you too.” She put her hand on his, and then instantly took it back. “I thought I lost you too.” She wiped away the tears that had welled her eyes.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “I think it is over for me.”

She nodded, fully understanding what he meant.

“I have another question,” she announced, a bit timidly. 

Luke nodded, his eyes deep.

“You didn’t put that thing in your arm, right? Tell me it wasn’t you who did that.” She sniffled, holding her head in her hands.

“It wasn’t me,” Luke confirmed. “I had the most terrible dream. I was with Joey and… and she….” He trailed off. “When I woke up it was in my arm… it was too late.”

“I also had the most terrible dream. I think I needed it, though.” Both didn’t really know what they other was saying but at the same time both understood they didn’t necessarily need to. “So you’re done.”

He nodded.

“No more heroin?”

He nodded, and then looked at her with a sadness beyond his years. “I’m done.” He paused. “I… I had to do this step while I was in rehab, and… I never really go around to it, but I had to do a moral inventory of my life.”

Shirley was listening, squeezing his hands.

“I had to write down every bad thing I’ve ever done: all the ways I screwed you guys over, all the times I took money from you, all the times I manipulated you guys. Just… everything. I… I did so many bad things. I never want to do that again.” He began to cry, a single sob escaping his mouth.

Shirley once again looked on.

“I’m so sorry,” he sobbed out. “I don’t think I could ever find a way to apologize to all four of you. I’ll never be be able to.”

“It’s ok,” Shirley said. “I’m just happy you’re alive. I’m just so happy you’re alive. I couldn’t have lost both of you.”

“And Nell,” Luke said, retracting his hand from Shirley’s to cover his face. His massive hands held his face as he softly cried. “I’ll never be able to apologize to her. The last time I saw her… the last time was the worst. I was nasty, I was manipulative. I could tell she needed someone to talk to, and I did nothing.” His crying had reached a crescendo, and his words seemed to mash together as he hyperventilated. 

Shirley instantly moved to put her hand on the shoulder, although she would be lying if she said she wasn’t a bit hesitant to reach out.

“She’s gone,” he kept repeating as Shirley looked on, quiet but warm. After a while, he subsided.

“Luke I need you to look at me.” He looked up, his eyes dark and red from crying. She looked at him, and for a moment she saw him as he was as a kid. He was so much older, and yet he was still so defenseless; still so bear. The feeling she felt towards her kids was always one she felt towards him, but that as well as her esteem of him had lessened over the years. “Nellie loved all of us more than anything. She knew that wasn’t you. She told you to go into rehab and get her brother back, and look at you now. You’re sober, and you plan on staying that way. She’d be so proud of you.” Luke stopped, as if suddenly remembering his late twin sister’s words in the red room. A slight, brief peace settled onto his shoulders.

Finally the Crain family emotional distance seemed to take hold and Shirley settled back into her chair.

“There are some things I will never forgive you for. I think I’ve been bitter for such a long time, in so many respects. But if I’ve learned anything from the past week, it’s that we need each other. I… I’m also going to make some changes. You, Me, Theo, and Steve? We’re all we have. No one else has gone through what we have.”

A silence passed, and Luke waited for her response as she seemed to be leading to something.

“Theo just moved out of my guest house,” Shirley said. “I think you can guess why. But we’ve talked; we’re okay. Well, we’re gonna be okay, I think. I have a lot to process. Anyway. I was wondering if you wanted to move back in?”

Luke was quiet; he was a bit surprised since last time he lived there it didn’t go well.

“I know what you’re thinking. It will be different this time. I believe you.”

“I would love that, Shirl.”

Shirley left soon after, leaving him in stunned silence. He was thankful for an uncharacteristically touching familial moment. “Uh, Shirl?” he called out as she passed through the frame.

She turned around, standing in the frame. “Yeah, Luke?”

He looked down, away from her eyes, and then returned. “Dad?”

Shirley’s face dropped a little, as if surprised at the fact that they had neglected to tell him. She shook her head, unsure how to deliver her heavy message. Luke nodded. He finally croaked out, “Ok, thank you Shirl. Thank you for everything. I’ll see you soon,” his voice heavy and breaking.

He laid there, the news settling upon him like a heavy blanket. But he was cold; so cold. He was getting colder. 

Luke already knew, but was disappointed nonetheless. He perseverated on it a bit more before turning towards a more positive thought: he would be able to move in with Shirley. He would be able to start over again, across the country. He smiled briefly.

The hospital lights were now blinding, a stark contrast to their dull glow only minutes beforehand. Luke began to be aware that he was laying in a pool of his own sweat. He was alone in this hospital room, his sole bed sitting perpendicular to the door. The walls were a light, antiseptic blue; so much so, that he felt like he was in a little boy’s nursery.

The room had a foggy element to their air. He couldn’t see clearly to the door only a few yards away. He thought for a moment in empty alarm that perhaps something was burning, but there was no other sensory indications of that being the case.

For some reason, he didn’t trouble himself over it. He began to feel tired again, despite only just waking up: being in hospitals always made him tired. He managed to cover his whole body with the blanket, and began to drift away from his grief and fright and sadness. 

At some point between consciousness and unconsciousness he heard a knock at the door. Forceful.

“H-hello?” he sent out. “Um… come in.”

Another knock, and then another, and finally another. Rhythmic banging.  
Luke was irritated: he suddenly realized that perhaps his haunting wasn’t over, and he wasn’t even scared, he was just annoyed. 

The door knob began to turn slowly, and the door subsequently began to open. 

Peering through the door, just two bright eyes through the haze of the room, was his mother. She had come to him multiple times over the years in various stages of… decomposition, but she was exactly how he remembered her. Just like the other night.

“Go away,” Luke said, enunciating each word with force. “I-I don’t want to go with you. I’m not going back. Just… just go away.”

Olivia Carin passed into the room, sliding through the door frame. She glided across the floor to the side of his bed. Luke instinctively brought his knees up to him and scooted back into his bed away from her. “No!”

“Wake up, Luke.” She said with her smile. “Nellie was confused. She feels better now. You can too.”

“No!” Luke closed his eyes. “Never.”

He kept his eyes closed for a few minutes, and she was gone, the lights dull once more, and the air clear. Only a little bit unsettled, he fell asleep quickly.


End file.
